Latest Stories Tagged: West Africa

The cost to attend high school varies around the world. Reporter Yepoka Yeebo tracked down the specifics of Ghana's high school fees to see why it's so challenging for kayayei, or "carry-girls" to afford an education.

It's been a year since the World Health Organization officially declared that there was an Ebola outbreak in West Africa. A doctor and health journalist compare notes on what has been a long and traumatic year — and an epidemic that isn't over just yet.

"Smockey" is a male rapper from Burkina Faso, and he's dealing out some serious lyrics about the all-too-common practice of female genital mutilation. His latest song, "Tomber la Lame," or "Drop the Blade," is a plea for his fellow countrymen to stop FGM.

The resurgence of Ebola in Sierra Leone can be traced to two wooden boats and the fishermen that carried the disease from their decks into Freetown. But the country's youth — unpaid volunteers — are helping track down the resurgent disease.

The Ebola epidemic has slowed to a trickle in Liberia, and the American soldiers who helped with the medical response effort have ended their missions. But aid workers caution that vigilance — and more infrastructure — is still needed.

His humble proposal to screen Americans traveling to Africa for measles has been widely supported on Twitter. He explains why he wrote it and says the world has a ''one-dimensional narrative'' toward Africa.

Craig Spencer set off a panic in New York City when he was diagnosed with Ebola last October, accused of reckless behavior by politicians and the media. Now recovered Spencer speaks out against the hysteria that followed his diagnosis in an exclusive interview with WNYC.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is slowing in some areas, but the crisis is far from over. And the virus' grip on the medical system in countries like Liberia means that people with other diseases or injuries often go without medical help.